She gave the boy a reassuring smile. “It looks very nice, doesn’t it?”
He didn’t reply, staring at his little feet with downcast eyes. With a sigh, she helped him down and led him through the gate.
A lovely young girl opened the front door just moments after Vanessa knocked. “May I help you, ma’am?”
“Hello,” Vanessa said. “May I speak to whoever’s in charge?”
“That would be Mrs. Bohannan,” the girl informed her. “Right this way, please.”
Vanessa and her small charge were led to a room at the back of the house, passing various classrooms and a large dining room along the way. The house had obviously been a private residence at one time and was very well taken care of. Everything was spotlessly clean and inviting.
Their guide poked her head in the room she’d led them to. “Visitors, Mrs. Bohannan.”
“Show them in,” came a soft, harried-sounding voice from within.
The girl gestured for them to enter.
To her surprise, Vanessa found that Mrs. Bohannan was very young, perhaps even younger than herself.
The lovely redhead was bent over a stack of ledgers, a pair of glasses perched upon the tip of her freckled nose. She glanced up as Vanessa entered, her green eyes immediately fixing upon the boy. “Hello,” she said, a bit warily. “What can I do for you?”
“My name is Vanessa Bourke,” Vanessa answered. “Prometheus asked me to bring this young man to you.”
“Prometheus?” Mrs. Bohannan’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “He’s never sent one of the children with someone else.”
“He had little choice last night,” Vanessa replied a bit defensively. “He’d been shot and didn’t think he could make it himself.”
“Shot?” Mrs. Bohannan got to her feet and circled her desk, her eyes filled with concern. “Is he all right?”
Vanessa nodded, wondering if this woman knew her masked midnight visitor’s true identity. “I believe so. He was wounded in the leg, but I bandaged him up as well as I could.”
Mrs. Bohannan openly sized Vanessa up. She probably had just as many questions about Vanessa’s relationship with Prometheus as Vanessa had about hers. “How well do you know him?”
“How well doyouknow him?” Vanessa countered.
Mrs. Bohannan laughed and held her hands up in defeat. “I’ve never seen him without his mask if that’s what you’re asking.”
Vanessa smiled wryly in return. “Neither have I.”
They stared at each other for a moment longer, and then Mrs. Bohannan turned her attention back to the boy. “Hello there, young man,” she murmured, dropping to her knees so she could look him in the eyes. “You’re going to be very happy here. We’ll take good care of you.”
“He doesn’t talk,” Vanessa said when the boy didn’t reply.
“A lot of them don’t when they first arrive.” Mrs. Bohannan gave him another smile, then got to her feet and stepped to the door. “Christina,” she called.
Within moments, the girl who’d answered the door returned. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Can you please take this young man up to the boy’s floor and get him settled in? I need to talk with Miss Bourke a few moments more, and then I’ll come up and see how he’s doing.”
“Of course.” Christina smiled and held out a hand to the child. “Come with me.”
He shook his head and buried his face in Vanessa’s skirts.
Frowning, Vanessa knelt and hugged him tightly. “It will be all right,” she whispered, stroking his soft, curly hair. “You’re safe now, and if you like, I’ll come and visit you.”
He pulled back and gazed at her with heartbreaking trust.
She nodded, though he hadn’t given voice to the question. “Yes, I promise. I will come and see you every chance I get.”
